Rounds 22, 23 & 24 of the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship staged on the 11-corner, 1.94-mile Rockingham track proved hugely frustrating. James Cole and Glynn Geddie qualified a disappointing 23rd and 25th respectively on the 31-car grid. Another half a second would have put James just outside the top-10 while Glynn missed the final 10mins of the 30mins qualify session while stranded trackside on Saturday afternoon with an electronic fuel sensor gremlin.
Geddie was inside the top 20 in race one by lap five but lost places while struggling with the set-up, with Cole’s race ending with broken steering after contact with Chris Stockton on lap three. Race two lasted just a lap for Geddie before the driveshaft broke while Cole had to serve a drive-through penalty after lining up on the grid in the incorrect space and then suffered a mechanical problem.
Geddie was impressively up to 14th in race three from a grid position of 27th before contact caused retirement while Cole was again a victim of some over zealous driving by his rivals.
#20 Drivecool / Autoglym / HELLA – Toyota Avensis
James Cole (GB)
Age: 26. Born: Southport, England. Lives: Liverpool, England.
“I got as much out of the car as was possible in qualifying but never managed to complete a full distance in any of today’s races. In the opening race I was hit by Stockton, had an engine issue in race two then was hit by a couple of cars in the third race. Racing towards the rear of the field can be dangerous and contact is always likely.”
#21 Autoglym / HELLA – Toyota Avensis
Glynn Geddie (GB)
Age: 24. Born & Lives: Aberdeen, Scotland.
“Missing the last 10 minutes of qualifying was a nightmare which carried on into race day. I had no traction in the opening race, race two a driveshaft snapped while in race three, on soft tyres, things were going much better until I was hit causing me to retire.”
Richard Dean, Team Owner and Managing Director, United Autosports:
“This weekend has been very difficult for the team. Both cars had problems of one sort or another throughout the whole weekend. Glynn missing out on the last half of qualifying knocked him down the order which made it hard for him to make up places. His third race was looking more positive, making up 13 places, but again, contact ruled him out of a good finishing position. James had issues throughout the weekend too so we need to look into that. We will head to Silverstone with the aim of qualifying better like we did at Knockhill. We have shown the pace is there, we now just need to maintain it.”
September 06-07 Rockingham
Rd 22 Qualifying: 23rd #20, 1m 24.195s; 25th #21, 1m 24.449s. Weather: Cloudy/dry.
Race: 26th #21, +55.237s; Not classified #20, -15 laps. Weather: Bright/dry.
Rd 23 Start Pos: 26th #21; 31st #20.
Race: 23rd #20, +67.351s; Not Classified #21, -14 laps. Weather: Bright/dry.
Rd 24 Start Pos: 23rd #20; 27th #21.
Race: Not Classified #21; Not Classified#20. Weather: Bright/dry.
Championship standings:
Drivers' Championship: 20th #21, Geddie, 15pts; 25th #20 Cole, 5pts
HiQ Teams’ Championship: 13th, 22pts
Independents Team Trophy: 11th, 118pts